Fellow Traveler

Nice guy, drove a pickup truck. Had been to Europe and felt unsafe in Prague at night.

Young Guy from Ravena

Nice guy, worked as a cook at a family owned restaurant, which they founded back in 1903 apparently! Was on his way from his girlfriend and took me from the Taconic to the I87, which was great because I could avoid Albany that way. We had a great conversation about our lives.

Short Ride from a Desperate Truckstop

I misunderstood which rest area the previous guy intended to drop me off, so I ended up at a pretty abandoned truckstop.(it was a Sunday) The good thing was the rest area on the I87 was only about 2 km away so I walked and hitched along the way and this guy gave me a ride.

Lady from Vermont

Nice lady from Vermont, pretty easy hitch. Spent about an hour at a rest area asking a lot of people. Lots of Quebecois with full cars and not exactly welcoming attitudes… So I eventually asked this lady without much anticipation as she was driving alone. To my surprise she was happy to take me a good distance past Albany towards Central Vermont. She'd just been to some… (read on in Trip)

Accountant from NY

First hitch in the U.S. of A. Nice lady who didn't hesitate when I asked her for a ride at the gas station. She had Czechoslovak heritage, as her grandfather apparently came from Prague. Was on her way to check out a house in Upstate New York and could've driven me all the way to Woodstock if I had time to wait while she checked out the house, which I didn't.

Retired Teacher

Waited very little for this ride. He used to hitchhike himself and was a retired teacher. Had been to an int'l school in Lebanon. Fairly short ride.

Canadian Border Guard Gives Me a Ride!

After a fairly easy border crossing into Canada, I was allowed to hitch right there. I did about 30 minutes but the crossing was completely dead, except for like 3 full cars which didnt stop… So I decided to walk towards a bigger crossing on the Interstate which I didn't use in the first place because you can't just walk over on the Interstate. It would've been a 6km hike in… (read on in Trip)

Canadian-American Couple from Platssburgh

Really nice couple on their way from a shopping trip. They both grew up in Quebec as English-speaking Quebeckers. Gave me an great ride all the way to Plattsburgh, which is only about 20mi away from the border. Talked about Quebec a lot.

Guy in a Truck

Slightly shady guy, gave me about a 2 mi ride towards the border. Turned out to be relatively nice.

Nice Guy from Rouses Point

Also looked a little shady (his car was definition of a messy car), but turned out to be super nice. Worked as a rental agent. Talked about Europe, healthcare and education systems. Liked the UK because of it's healthcare and education, but not its gun laws. Drove me all the way to the border on the US side, so all I had to do was walk about 10 meters and I was in Canada.

Insane Irish guy

First hitch in Ireland. Surprised by the 1h 20m wait as Ireland was supposed to be easy to hitch. Guy was so Irish you couldn't be more if you tried. Swore a lot and was returning from a funeral. Saw a mini bus on the motorway from Kerry and said he was from there and might now the guy. He then proceeded to pull up in front of it and flash his hazards until the guy stopped on… (read on in Trip)

Farmer

Nice farmer who picked me up at a rather desperate location in the middle of nowhere after almost no waiting. His car was super dirty, but I was glad to get the hell out of there.

Hitchhiker Girl

Girl who used to hitchhike herself until she had a terrifying experience in Australia. Some guy tried to kidnap her friend and her, but thankfully her friend had military training and was able to steer to car away from the road and wall away from the crash.

Businessman from Birdhill

Nice guy, was commuting from Dublin back home to Birdhill. Worked for a telecommunications company and used to live in Florida as a kid. Suggested he drop me off at a local road instead of the motorway ramp as locals would pick me up easier. I went against my hh'ker instincts and agreed, almost regretting as it turned out it wasn't very busy.

Evangelist

Nice guy, worked as a security contractor. I noticed a lot of religous books. This guy was only going to Limerick but said he still had an hour to spare so he'd take me all the way to Shannon Airport which would be about a 40km detour on a toll road! Really helped me out as I'd have to do a lot of walking otherwise. Gave me a "God loves you pamphlet".

Welsh Army Veteran

Older Welsh guy in a cabrio. Slightly difficult to understand due to his accent and noise. Drove through the Peak District, which was quite stunning. Drove me right to the university, literally to the minute when my lecture started!

Paki textile trader

Nice Paki guy who imported textiles into the UK. He was quite well traveled as he'd been to China and South Korea because of business. We had an interesting conversation about life and how he'd almost gone back to Pakistan because Birmingham seemed too much like the life-style in Pakistan, until he went to London where he fell in love with the city. I was hoping he could take… (read on in Trip)

Mother&Daughter

Another mother and daughter pair, this time a generation older. First car I approached, which hasn't happened in a loooong time. They were on their way to Coventry, so I passed the major hassle of Birmingham with relative ease. The daughter had hitchhiked/backpacked herself too.

Russian mother with Greek daughter

So here I was hitching in Manchester early in the morning for about 20 minutes when I see a girl approach me out of nowhere: "We'll take you!" I was quite puzzled, but she explained that they'd actually gone back for me! In the car I learned that they were going to a university open-day in Birmingham.

FAA instructor

I was a little uneasy about approaching this pair because they seemed a little strange, but boy was I wrong. The guy worked as an airline ops coordinator and used to live in the US where he got his FAA instructor license and worked at an airport. We had a really interesting chat about aviation and time flew by.

Romanian Guy

Nice Romanian guy who didn't hesitate a second when I asked him at a gas station (unlike the uptight Londoners…) We had a nice chat about our countries.

Old Bookbinder

Older man in a van. Used to work as a bookbinder, now delivered printed materials around Manchester. Avoided the highway because of traffic (which was a smart move). Probably went on a detour to get me to a services on the M6.

Doctor from the Swat Valley

One of the most interesting people who have ever given me a ride. He looked quite stylish and turned me down outright when I approached him. I kept on trying talking to drivers and he eventually approached me after he came back from the services with: "Do you have ID?" I was a little puzzled, thinking he wanted to call the cops on me (for no reason). He then added he'd take me… (read on in Trip)

Young Barber from Takayama

The longest I've ever waited in Japan even though the spot was actually quite reasonable. I was about to move on along the road when a local guy in a "Japanese JEEP" stopped. He worked as a barber and was excited to take a hitch-hiker. Spoke basic English. Drove me to a parking lot near an onsen in Hiraya and tried to look for Matsumoto license plates there. When I told him… (read on in Trip)

Two Friends (who apparently just got fired)

Two young women who must've been to the toll shop on the other side of the road because I did not see their car until they pulled up on an adjacent parking lot and asked where I was going. They'd both apparently just lost their jobs, which made my question "so, what do you do for a living?" sound pretty unfortunate in retrospect. Drove through some pretty amazing scenery and… (read on in Trip)

Carpenter

Middle-aged carpenter in a tiny Japanese van. I wasn't sure whether to take the ride because the PA we'd initially agreed on was super close and I was already planning on getting a direct ride to Tokyo. I was lucky I took it though because later on the man told me he had "business" near the agreed PA for about 30 minutes and that afterwards he could take me to a PA which was… (read on in Trip)

"Oil Machines" Salesman

First and only time I'd used a sign while hitching in the Japan. Pretty soon a nice guy from Tokyo stopped. He was a salesman and sold some "oil pressure" devices. We hit the afternoon Tokyo rush hour, which was even emphasized by 2 accidents along the way, but got some awesome views of Downtown Tokyo. The visibility was off the charts that day. Guy even did a slight detour to… (read on in Trip)

Businessman from Niigata

Middle-aged businessman from Niigata. Didn't speak much English but did tell me that his son was getting married in Hawaii and that he would depart from Narita on the same day as me.

Guy does a 30km, toll road detour for me!

Went out of his way on a toll road!!! He did an approx. 30 km detour, which was in a completely different direction than he was going. Was super nice and told me he sold Kimonos for a living and was on his way home. Had a 1 yo son. Spoke basic English so communication was quite easy.

Neat Elderly Couple

Elderly couple who I'd approached at a tiny deserted PA and explained in my broken Japanese that I was hitchhiking to Takayama. They were a little reluctant at first but then said they were actually going to Takayama, as well, and that they'd take me. I couldn't have been happier, as it was the Sun was slowly starting to set. Turned out to be really nice but couldn't speak any… (read on in Trip)

Junior High Teachers

Four young junior high school teachers on their way to Maibara for a short trip. One of them was an English teacher so communicating was very easy. They were very curious about Slovakia and our culture. Gave me lots of candy and snacks.

Awesome Japanese Retired Couple

Sweetest Japanese retired couple. They actually just passed me at first but then stopped and reversed back towards me. At first, it seemed the man was checking the bus schedule (there was a bus stop at the PA) but he then turned to me and asked me "Woher kommen Sie?"! I was so shocked to hear German from an older Japanese man in the middle of nowhere that I didn't respond at… (read on in Trip)

Couple from Kanazawa

Still in shock, I got into a spacious family van with a middle-aged couple. They didn't speak any English so we communicated using G-translate. The man put on some classical music so it only took moments for me to fall asleep (even though I fought it as hard as I could – classical music just does it for me…). They took me to the very center of Kanazawa and the wife insisted… (read on in Trip)

Two Aestheticians

Two girlfriends on their way to Osaka. I was with a Japanese hitchhiker, who I'd met at the PA earlier, so communication was much easier. The two were aestheticians. Gave us water and some dried fruit from one of the girl's mother.

Nice Couple

First ride in Japan. Really friendly couple who picked me up at a service area on the "outskirts" of Tokyo. We communicated using Google Translate and I learned the wife was a musician. Not sure what the husband did. It was a relatively short trip but took forever because there was a traffic jam. I do love the Japanese SA/PA system, though.

Tiny Truck

Small truck with a really friendly guy. Spoke no English so we used Google Translate again. Most of the ride was quiet though. Reached Nagoya by sunset, which was my fault actually (set out too late, was heading for Kyoto) Met a fellow Japanese hitchhiker at the PA.

Two Romanian diplomats

First CD car I have ever hitched. Two middle aged Romanian women driving from the airport to Brussels. Didn't really talk to me much but conversed in Romanian.

English Couple

Nice English couple who'd been visiting some family in Scotland and it was their first time there. The husband used to hitchhike.

Polish Trucker

Nice Polish trucker whose truck was basically dying on Scottish hills. We talked about many things. He was really happy he could take a hitchhiker and told me he takes people regularly. Was going through Leeds, but I decided to go for only about 70 miles because the truck was quite slow and I had no clue how I'd get through the web of highways near Leeds.

Cool Northern Irish Guy

I almost gave up on talking to this very stylish looking guy in his brand new Audi after he didn't respond to me greeting him twice. Turned out to be a relatively seasoned traveler who didn't hesitate when I asked him and used to hitchhike and travel on the cheap himself. We had some really interesting conversations about politics and especially Northern Ireland, which I… (read on in Trip)

Super nice Somali Mancunian

Really kind guy who worked as an engineer and had studied in Manchester, as well. We talked about a lot of things. His family (4 kids) lived in Canada. We hit afternoon Manc traffic so the ride took forever but I really enjoyed it nevertheless.

English Couple

Nice English couple who sat next to me on the ferry and offered to give me a ride in their RV.

Nice English Lady

Gave me a lift to Orbost and knew the bothy I was gonna hike to.

Scottish Guy with a Slovak Wife

He sold some outdoor merchandise and was really excited he met someone from his wife's homeland. Met her at a stag night in Bratislava.

Retired Guy

Nice guy who gave me a lift in his pickup. Retired on Skye.

Polish Legend

One of the most unforgettable rides. I talked to him (first car I talked to) at a gas station because I saw a Polish license plate. He drove a small truck and told me he does deliveries around Europe. When there's no job, he travels around in the truck and visits castles. He really loved history and told me he had two degrees. We talked about absolutely everything. Told me how… (read on in Trip)